went off green laning last weekend, and after driving eynsford, and Wrotham lanes we set of for holly hill which are my nearest lanes / byways, now these lanes have been permit only drivable for around a year now, because there were so many idiots driving off piste and trashing private land etc, these lanes were very nearly shut down for good but good old kcc and a private trust jointly funded a project where it was all tidied up and gates were installed with combination locks fitted, in the early stages we had the problems of land owners and ramblers super gluing the locks etc but they got bored with it in the end, anyway to cut an even longer story short we eventually bumped into a kent police byways patrol in a defender, we produced on request our permits and identification etc, they carried out their checks on the vehicles insurance etc, etc, all was ok ( obviously ) and they were really friendly and had a nice long chat etc, they actually said that they were pleased to see us and how nice it was to see the byways being used, they have to forward a report to highways at kcc, bottom line is that if these lanes don't get used enough then a decision may be made to cease funding the project and the byways may become closed for good, this is exactly what surrounding land owners want but kcc etc are currently on our side and fighting our corner so to speak.
if anyone local (ish) does not have a permit can I please ask that you apply for one and help keep these byways open, you can apply online at kcc and they are free, ok these are not the most set of challenging lanes in the county but they are ok.
thanks,
steve.
)
, though cant say the same for our local ramblers, ( faces like thunder ) miserable lot they are for sure, they seem to think the byways and countryside is there just for them to enjoy. basically our council just gave us a second chance, as far as I know the project is on a trial basis for some 18 months, would it be worth perhaps approaching your local council and even submitting signatures in support of your interest to re-gain your local byways? all of our BOAT,S ( byway open to all traffic ) are subject to TRO,S ( traffic regulation order ) under the permit scheme, they are all subject to code of conduct etc which to most of us is just common sense, we have had a few rotton apples trying to ruin a truly awesome hobby etc, though a few of them have since been caught and had their vehicles seized under section 59, so hopefully we can all continue to enjoy these lanes and byways. 
